One Good Deed
by Anya2
Summary: Part Four Added...A meeting with a new alien race has startling consequences for Archer and he has to balance his personal feelings against what is right. But can a decision this painful ever be the right one?
1. Part One Meeting and Greeting

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One Good Deed

PG - A few mild cusses, angsty later on

Pairing - None

Spoilers - Anything on the show so far is fair game

Disclaimer - Paramount = Owners, Me = The woman who wants Tucker so she can a) have a feel of those muscles and b) get him to speak to her in that accent all day long.

Author's Notes: When I write fiction I try to stick to cannon and the facts as much as possible. Thing is, in writing this I realise that whilst I've been watching Star Trek since I was old enough for my dad to sit me in front of the tv and go 'look at the pretty space ships', I'm no where near an expert on all this stuff. So, first I apologise for any factual errors. Second, I apologise for screwing with cannon right royally during this fic as I know many people don't liek their AU to go this far. I just thought it'd be an interesting angsty piece about the characters involved. Please bear with me!

Finally, the basis for this fic has a definite grounding in another show. I'm not going to tell you which so as not to spoil things to come but I didn't even realise that I'd done it until I read my brain storming back. In the end I've decided to leave things as they are because their the best means to my character/angsty ends.

Hope you enjoy it and leave a review if you have the time.

This fic is dedicated to my dad who first introduced me to sci-fi and brought me up to be the kind of girl who has more than boys, clothes and shoes in her head. You gave me this brain and I'm gonna use it. X

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Part One

Jonathan Archer took a preparatory breath and straightened his already pristine uniform. T'pol gave him a slight sideward glance but kept her stoic countenance. Trip wasn't so subtle, grinning like a Cheshire Cat, but hurriedly smoothing his features back when Archer gave him a questioning look.

This meeting was important. The alien species, who called themselves the Lantal, were welcoming, friendly and, perhaps most importantly, technologically advanced. If Archer and his crew played their cards right then maybe they'd be willing to share some of that knowledge. And even if they weren't, they would still be a valuable ally and humans needed all the friends they could get.

As they left the shuttle, Jonathan again wondered why the Lantal had chosen to make this planet their home. They were clearly advanced enough to move elsewhere and yet for some reason they remained in this barren landscape of high red rock formations and deep foreboding caves. From what little they had learnt about their new friends though it seemed as if they'd been here for several hundred years. And home was home, no matter what or where it was. 

Waiting to meet them, standing far enough away so that even T'pol's sharp ears couldn't pick up what they were whispering about, were just two of the Lantal - Gideo, who seemed to be their leader, and his assistant Yano.

"Hardly a welcomin' committee," Trip noted wryly.

Archer shrugged slightly. 

"Maybe they're shy," he suggested although he had to admit he found it a little strange that they had only ever seen or spoken to these two since they'd first made contact ten days ago. 

The Lantal had been immediately friendly and very eager to meet up, so it didn't really make any sense that the others would be so wary of them that they would feel the need to hide themselves away. Since the Enterprise had first left Jupiter Station however, Jonathan had come to realise that very few of the new species they encountered acted in a way he would consider usual. So far this was one of the least concerning idiosyncrasies they'd encountered and wasn't as worrying as it perhaps would have been eight months ago.

Jonathan quickly forgot his mild concerns as Gideo gave them a wide smile as walked towards them. Well, waddled was probably more accurate. From what they had seen, the Lantal were apparently short, very round and bald, with big eyes and small pug noses. They reminded Jonathan of gnomes, although he hadn't voiced that opinion just in case it caused Trip to smirk the entire time.

"Welcome, welcome, my friends," Gideo said brightly, bowing vigorously in greeting, "Come, come now. We have been waiting for you."

He waddled back towards Yano, appearing to be in quite a hurry for some reason. Jonathan shared a look with his two fellow officers, but they were clearly just as perplexed.

Curiously, Jonathan walked after Gideo, catching up with the small alien after just a few strides.

"You, Mr Captain," Gideo said, nodding at Jonathan, "You will come with me now. Your others will go with Yano. He will show them our technology."

Gideo said this in a way, which suggested that he was trying to show that T'pol and Trip were getting down to the main business whilst the Captain was just going on a meaningless side tour.

He quite pull it off however and Jonathan frowned, puzzled. 

"Where are we going then?"

"To see the others," Gideo explained with a sigh, as though he really didn't want to go into some long boring details, "You do wish to know where they are, hmm?"

Well, yes, Jonathan did.

"Captain," T'pol said as discretely as she could, "I don't believe we should separate. For security reasons. This is a relatively unknown planet. They may be hazards which are not yet aware of."

He knew that was her own subtle way of suggesting that he shouldn't jump in and trust these people. After all, they knew very little about them and despite all their explorations even the Vulcans had never heard of them - which seemed to make T'pol even more suspicious. As she had stated, she 'could not imagine while they would reveal themselves to a technologically less superior race such as the humans and yet hide from the Vulcans who are far more their equals'.

Part of Jonathan agreed with her cautious attitude, but what Gideo had said was right. He was curious and his gut instinct told him he should check this out. He couldn't see any risk from the Lantal. Nothing he couldn't handle anyway.

"I don't think we're in any danger, T'pol," Jonathan said, shaking his head.

T'pol looked at him with something akin to resigned disdain on her face. The kind of look an adult gave a kid who would never listen and then was always getting himself hurt because of it.

"I make sure I'll check in, okay?" he said, in a reassuring manner.

Her expression didn't change but she nodded.

"Good," Gideo said, obviously seeing that the decision had been made in his favour, "Let's go. Hurry now."


	2. Part Two Through The Looking Glass

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Part Two

"Where exactly did you say everyone else was, Gideo?" Jonathan asked as he carefully followed the Lantal down the uneven path of the tunnel. For such a small, rotund being, Gideo was surprisingly nimble and light on his feet, easily keeping a few feet ahead of Jonathan who had be cautious so as not to lose his footing on the loose rocks that littered the floor.

"I told you, they are away," Gideo explained, momentarily turning back to look at him.

"Away where?" Jonathan pressed with a patient smile.

"Fixing things," Gideo said simply, as though this clarified it.

Instead it just made Jonathan frown.

"Fixing your technology?"

Gideo shook his head, "No, no. Fixing things......", he trailed off and shook his head again. "I will show you soon, then you will understand."

Jonathan felt the small pangs of concern resurface as he again remembered how little they really knew about this species. Whilst his gut instinct was still happy he was doing the right thing, his Starfleet training reasoned that it hadn't been such a good idea to spilt up from the others. It was this that made his hand check the presence of his phase pistol and communicator. His concerns were shelved once more however as they came out into a large cave.

Around the edges of the almost perfectly circular area were a number of metal posts about three feet high, all seeming to have been placed equal distances apart giving a geometric symmetry. The top of each one held a crystal, each about the size of his fist and none having the same colour. Correspondingly coloured lights were emanating from them, creating a silent fireworks display on the red stone walls. It was an incredibly beautiful sight.

Following the lights up, his sharp eyes found there was another set of crystals seated around the edges of a circular metal plate that was the centrepiece of the domed ceiling.

Looking back at Gideo, he saw the alien smiling in a fond knowingness.

"It is very beautiful, is it not?"

Jonathan nodded smiling also, "But somehow I don't think this is just a light show. What does it do?"

"Ah," said Gideo, holding his finger up in the same manner that Jonathan's high school science teacher had always done before he revealed something he considered amazing. The alien stepped over to the left of the room and surprisingly long and dextrous fingers worked their way across some indentations in the wall. A slight amount of pressure in the correct place brought a panel spinning into view. Gideo scrutinised Jonathan carefully, thought for a long moment and turned back to the panel, pressing various buttons.

"If it would please you, step onto the platform, Mr Captain" he instructed, waving airily at the centre of the room.

Jonathan darted a few looks behind him to see what Gideo was referring to and realised he must mean a circular plate that was directly below the one at the peak of the ceiling. The two were identical except this second one did not have any crystals but instead had holes, leading who knew where.

He walked up to it and had a good look, but turned back to Gideo again with a friendly manner which he hoped would show he was just being sensible, not rude or untrusting.

"No offence, Gideo, but I'm not going to step onto this thing unless you tell me what this machine does," he looked around the room with a small frown, "It is a machine, right?"

"Yes, yes," Gideo said, still distracted by whatever he was doing on the panel, "It is part of our technology." He paused momentarily, grinning in a proud manner, "The best part, I would say."

Jonathan's glance shot back to him, his attention caught.

"Your technology?" he asked, unable to hide the suspicion this time, "But I thought that Yano was going to show T'pol and Trip your technology."

Flustered at being clearly caught out, Gideo shook his head rapidly, "Not all technology is the same. Much is different about this. Only you must use this. It is most important that you do."

Jonathan gave his head a firm shake and pointed to the plate, "I don't mean to sound rude, but if it's so important that I use this thing then you'd better explain what it does otherwise I won't...."

He trailed off as he looked back up at Gideo to see the small alien look more than a little shifty. As he caught Jonathan's gaze, he froze, like a kid found with his hands in the proverbial cookie jar.

Their eyes locked and for a moment there was a standoff as each waited to see what the other was up to. Jonathan unfroze first but Gideo's reaction was more decisive. He fumbled slightly as he tried to keep one eye on the advancing captain and one on the control panel, but soon as he got his finger on the correct button Jonathan found himself sliding back and stopping sharply on the plate, as though it was giant magnetic and he was a pin.

"Get me the hell off here!" he immediately demanded, throwing politeness and diplomacy to the wind.

"Please, please," Gideo entreated, walking up to him with his fingers pressed together in a pleading gesture and his eyes full of remorse, "Do not be alarmed. It will not hurt you. I promise most sincerely you will not be harmed."

"I don't give a damn what you promise!" Jonathan growled, "Let me go!"

Gideo juddered, "Please, Mr Captain, please do not shout. It hurts my ears so, it does. We Lant'al have very sensitive hearing."

He stepped back to the control panel once more, rubbing at his ears as though they were still ringing.

Jonathan was still having a hard time seeing such a creature as a threat and he didn't want to hurt him, but he also didn't want to become a lab rat or whatever Gideo had planned for him. With this in mind he reached simultaneously for both his phase pistol and communicator only to discover that he was incapable of moving his limbs.

Twisting his head - the only part of his body that would still move - he saw the crystals around the edge of the room beginning to glow. Flicking his head back towards Gideo, he noted rather worryingly that the alien was back to concentrating on the panel as if he were inputting some very complex calculations.

"Gideo," he said in a last ditch effort to reason with him as the humming of energy around the room increased while the light show was going manically against the walls, "Whatever you're doing, you don't have to do it like this. If you just explained it first I'd be quite willing to-"

Gideo shook his head, interrupting, "We have spoken much about it. Humans are more open minded than most, and will believe what they do not understand, but will not believe until they see. This is right. All will be right and you will put it right."

Jonathan frowned, unable to make head nor tail of what Gideo was trying to tell him.

"Gideo, please....", he asked as the hairs on his body began to stand on end and his skin tingled.

"You must be quiet, Mr Captain," Gideo said, with a irritated shake of his head, "We are far away and the calculations are complex. Please interrupt my work no longer."

That held Jonathan's tongue momentarily. It didn't seem like Gideo had any intention of relenting and letting him out so maybe he should just keep quiet, let the little guy do his job and hope he came out of it in one piece.

But Jonathan Archer had never been a 'sit-back-and-let's-see-what-happens' kind of guy.

He opened his mouth to deliver what he guessed would be yet more pointless entreaties, but was silenced as the light show reached its crescendo. The energy peaked and Jonathan would have cringed from the force of it had he been able to move.

The hum turned into almost a high pitched scream as the lights tipped and converged on the crystals in the centre of the ceiling. These then also tipped, sending a cylinder of impenetrable light down to envelop him. Jonathan had no choice but to watch it come and hope it wasn't going to hurt.

It hit the floor with a silent crash and he felt as though he was suddenly going at an extreme velocity. Watching the light flow in front of him was almost like having your nose an inch from a raging waterfall, except his body seemed not to react to it. There was no longer any movement of his hair, he couldn't feel the wind on his skin or his stomach tightening with the pull of G force. But his mind was telling him he was going really far, really fast. The almost detached nature of it wasn't at all comforting.

What had Gideo done to him?

Without warning the waterfall of light stopped and faded rapidly away. Jonathan immediately squeezed his eyes shut as a new, even brighter light invaded them.

Mere moments later however he was aware of movement around him and he forced himself to open his eyes again, rubbing the soreness away.

The new light that had blinded him turned out to be the sun shining buoyantly in the sky as if it was totally unaware that anything strange had just happened. The people who walked past him, many with bags of shopping also seemed blissfully ignorant of his sudden arrival. Vehicles sped up and down a main street, a waiter at the cafe across the road tutted as he cleared up after some departing teenagers, a woman stood scrutinising shoes whilst a man, who was obviously her other half, kept checking his watch.

Jonathan knew the shoe store, he knew cafe and he knew the waiter that worked there. He knew this street because he'd walked down it nearly every day for most of his young life.

"We're not in Kansas anymore," he muttered incredulously to himself.

No, he was in San Francisco.

Somehow, he was back on Earth.


	3. Part Three Be Careful What You Wish For

Author's Note: Well, here's that 'suspiciously-like-another-show' part. I'm sure you'll see what I mean afterwards.

Thanks to those of you who left reviews, they were much appreciated.

Part Three

Jonathan shook his head in stunned disbelief. This couldn't be real. It couldn't be possible. They were hundreds of light years away from Earth. Surely no transporter could be powerful enough to send him this far, this quickly? 

The first explanation that crossed his mind was that maybe he was unconscious. The machine could have knocked him out and he was just imagining all this. Although it seemed a little too real for that. And what exactly would be the point of a machine that knocked people out anyway? He still wasn't willing to believe anything bad of such a seemingly harmless race as the Lant'al. Jonathan prided himself on the reliability of his first impressions and he wasn't about to give up on the one he had of their new friends just yet. Although if and when he got back, Gideo was going to have a lot to answer for.

His second thought was that perhaps this was a highly advanced type of holodeck that the Lant'al wanted to trade with them and this was their idea of the hard sell. Maybe the light tunnel he had stood in was some sort of mind reader that allowed them to recreate San Francisco from his childhood memories. 

But that still wouldn't explain why he was allowed to see it and T'pol and Trip weren't.

With his mind still pondering over the puzzle, his feet began to walk without his bidding and he started to take in the sights, smells and sounds. Part of him knew he should be more scared or at least more concerned, but he felt so comfortable and assured in such familiar surroundings after the long, unknown darkness of space. Here, everything was familiar. No aliens threatening to blow them into particles, no chance of offending anyone by sneezing, proper air, real light and more people in this one street than worked on the whole of Enterprise.

Yet somehow such well-known surroundings seemed different. It reminded him of when he'd had the most awful head cold once. Days of working too hard, feeling ill and having very little sleep finally caught up with him and he had had to admit defeat and take a few days off. It was as though his brain couldn't process what his eyes were seeing fast enough and there was a slight lag between him perceiving something and actually recognising it. It made it seem as if he was looking at everything in a whole new manner.

There again, he reasoned, maybe he was. He'd seen and experienced more than could be imagined since he'd joined Starfleet and left on the Enterprise. Experiences like that could definitely change a man's view on things.

A few rather meandering paces later he heard the laughter of a group of girls standing meters away. For some reason the sound stood out above the other general noise around him. Glancing towards them, he watched as one of the girls waved goodbye to her friends and went to cross the street.

Jonathan frowned as his gut clenched inexplicably and his pace quickened without any conscious decision to do so.

The girl walked between two parked vehicles, checking the street for oncoming traffic. The light breeze suddenly picked up to a short sharp gust, blowing some of the papers off of the pile she had been caring on top of her folder. With a mildly irritated look she turned and bent down to pick them back up.

Jonathan began to jog, his eyes fixed on the girl and not the people who were giving him strange looks as he pushed rudely past them.

The girl stood again, checking around her to see if there were any papers she had missed. Stepping back to get a better look, she was too engross in making sure that she had collected everything to realise that she had inadvertently walked out onto the road.

The vehicle coming straight at her didn't have time to stop.

The screeching of tyres against tarmac made her see her mistake, but only in time so that she could watch death come at her in open mouthed horror.

At the last possible moment Jonathan rammed heavily into her side, sending her flying roughly but well clear of the car as it stopped ten feet after where she'd been standing. His Starfleet training had taught him how to fall properly, and his sense of chivalry had made him take the force of blow and so he lay there a little dazed and winded as people including the driver and the girl's friends came rushing up to them both.

He sat up amidst a whirlwind of 'are you alright?', 'oh my God' and 'what happened?'. His head was still buzzing and his body still stung, and he wasn't sure whether or not the questions were directed at him or the girl.

"You're not hurt, are you?" he eventually croaked, trying to get to her through the concerned web of friends.

"Er....no. I don't think so," she said, sounding shaken. She tried to help her friends pick up all the things she had dropped but they just pushed her back down to sitting.

"You should get yourself checked out by a doctor," Jonathan insisted, now quickly recovering.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure," she said, still dazed and sweeping her mess of hair off her face. She looked at him for a long moment, finally realising what he had just done for her.

"Thank you," she said with great sincerity, "I think you might have just saved my life."

Jonathan however barely heard a word. He was just staring and staring at her face.

The girl was taken back by his sudden change in expression.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned and a little confused.

He nodded absently, stared for a few more long moments and then suddenly scrambled to his feet and stumbled away as quickly as he could. Some of the small crowd gathered asked him if he was hurt, but he just pushed past them and ran off down the street, ducking into a small side alley and hoping no one was following him.

He slammed his back up against the cool wall so hard that it hurt, but at least it gave him confirmation that this was real. Or some kind of reality at least, because he really didn't have a clue anymore.

That girl.

Marie Anne Jackson.

She had been his girlfriend for two years in high school. Right up until she'd been killed in a car accident just after her seventeenth birthday. An accident he had seemingly just prevented.

What was this - some kind of time travel? Could the Lant'al really have the technology to do this? He knew they were advance. Even T'pol was impressed by their technology. But this was beyond anything imaginable.

Is that what Gideo had meant by fixing things? To go back and fix a past mistake?

Ever since it happened he'd always wondered that if he'd left football practice just a few minutes earlier maybe he could have saved her. Could Gideo's technology really have given him that chance?

But hadn't the Vulcans always said that time travel was impossible?

This made him snort a small laugh. And since when had the Vulcans been totally forthcoming with what they did and did not know? He wouldn't put it past them to hide something like this. They didn't think that humans were mature enough to be travelling in deep space, let alone travelling through time.

And perhaps they were right. Hadn't he just played quite spectacularly with the existing timeline? Although technically it wasn't his fault. It had been instinct when he had seen what was about to happen. He didn't know who she was. If Gideo had only warned him...

It turned out the small alien was right though, he wouldn't have believed it unless he saw it with his own eyes.

He shook his head. God, what had he done?

Calmer now, taking some deeper breaths and trying to inspire some rational thinking, he looked around wondering what to do next. He had to get back to his own time or whatever before he did anymore damage. How the hell was he supposed to get back again though seemed to be a mystery.

He glanced around the alley, making sure no one was immediately about.

"Gideo?" he said, in as louder tone as he dared.

Nothing.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

Silence.

"Gideo!" he snapped, annoyed. Raising his voice didn't seem to help much though.

He ran his hands over his face, momentarily closing his eyes as a small respite from all the questions he still needed answer to, but then flicked them back open when he realised that something didn't feel right.

His face and his hair. They felt different. Taking a few apprehensive steps forward he stood in front of a window on the side of the opposite building. He carefully wiped away some of the dirt so he could stare at the only vaguely familiar face looking back at him.

It wasn't him, that was for sure. This guy was much younger for a start. He couldn't be any more than eighteen. His hair was slightly longer, thicker and sandy blonde in colour. His face was more boyish than Jonathan's had even been at that age. He thought he recognised the guy from his maths class.

Even through his amazement, he was distracted by the movement of a reflection in the window. Through the slight blur he saw a young man, tall for his age with the build of a footballer. Turning he watched with mixed feelings his young self ran up to Marie and talked to her worriedly. A moment later he flung his arms around her like there was no tomorrow.

Who knew, after what Jonathan had just done maybe there wasn't going to be. He had no idea of the consequences of changing history like this. Although, from what Gideo seemed to have been suggesting they did this all the time.

He shook his head, trying to shake some of the more confusing questions away. Boy Gideo going to have something to answer for when he got back. If he got back.

Jonathan managed to get once last glance back at the street and his younger self leading Marie away before the light waterfall began again without warning.

A few short moments later everything became dark.


	4. Part Four You Must Remember This

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Part Four

Archer's eyes cracked open just slightly as a familiar southern drawl irritatingly pierced his peacefulness. He felt as though the ground was swaying, but he soon realised that it was just Trip, shaking him a little too vigorously.

"Cap'n?"

Jonathan tried to respond but his vocal chords didn't seem to be listening to his brain.

"Jon?"

The shaking increased in intensity.

With some great effort he forced his eyes all the way open and managed to be co-ordinated enough to push Trip's arm away.

The engineer was kneeling next to him, a mixture of worry and relief on his face. T'pol was standing a pace away, her face expressing the closest Vulcan's could probably get to concern. She had her scanner out and was alternating glances between him and the read out.

"How ya feelin'?" Trip asked.

Jonathan shook his head, trying to remember what had happened.

"Confused," he eventually conceded, "Help me up."

Trip gripped his arm and helped pull him into a sitting position. Jonathan wobbled slightly as he got there and Trip tightened his grip.

"Stick your head between your knees," he suggested.

"I'm fine," Jonathan insisted, looking around the only vaguely familiar room, "What happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us that," Trip admitted.

"You were unconscious when we arrived," T'pol explained, "You showed no signs of injury but we have been trying to wake you for several minutes without success."

Looking around for any possible explanation, Jonathan spotted Gideo and Yano standing a short distance away. They were talking in hurried whispers, glancing furtively from each other to Jonathan.

"Do you know what happened, Gideo?" Jonathan asked.

The small alien shook his head, "No, Mr Captain. We we're talking and then I said I'd show you our light generator. I activated it and when I turned around you were laying on the floor. Then your friends arrived."

"Light generator?" Jonathan asked. He did vaguely remember seeing some lights.

"It is harmless, I assure you," Gideo said, sounding distressed, "They are simply for decorative purposes. Our people use them for relaxation. If I had known that they may affect you...."

"It's okay, Gideo," Jonathan assured, putting his hand up to stop the apology, "I'm fine."

That didn't sound quite so convincing though as he stood up, wobbled dangerous and had to get a death grip on the front of Trip's uniform to stop himself from falling.

"I think you should go see the doc," Trip insisted, helping to steady him.

"I'm just a bit dizzy, that's all," Jonathan protested.

That was only a slight lie. He was dizzy, yes. He was also disorientated, confused and worried.

"Perhaps the light formations caused some kind of epileptic seizure in your brain," T'pol suggested.

"Thank you for your words of comfort, Sub-Commander," Jonathan said dryly.

T'pol, as usual, was unfazed by his tone.

"I was simply making a valid suggestion for what happened," she explained, "I thought it would be comforting for you to have some idea."

Yes, it would. It was just that that idea didn't sound very appealing.

"I concur with Commander Tucker's suggestion," she continued, "We should take you straight to sickbay."

Jonathan nodded, not particularly liking it but knowing it was the sensible thing to do. Besides, T'pol had that 'don't even think about arguing with me' expression on and he had a feeling she may knock him out again if he refused.

Gideo watched them go nervously.

"Please," he insisted, "Please contact us, when you have any news."

Trip nodded as T'pol hooked her arm around Archer's other side and helped the still unsteady and disorientated captain out.

"We'll be in touch."

---

Without warning there were a few bleeps and Jonathan found himself sliding back out of the medical imaging scanner. This, it seemed, was Dr Phlox's last ditch attempt at finding out what happened. By the look on the Denobulan's face - who was hovering over him checking out the readings - it hadn't worked.

"Nothing?" Jonathan asked as he sat up, swinging his legs over the doctor's side of the examination table.

Dr Phlox shook his head, with a frown, "No, I'm afraid not, Captain. Looking on the bright side however, there is also no indication of any damage. In fact, you're in better health than your Starfleet medical would have me believe."

Jonathan smiled slightly, "All this running around has paid off then, huh?"

Phlox gave him one of his strange smiles, the sides of his mouth turning up at an unnatural angle. Jonathan still couldn't quite get used to them.

"So can I go then," Jonathan stated, hoping off the bed.

"I can't see why not," Phlox said with a small shrug, "But I want you to come back for another 

check up in 24 hours. Whilst your collapse doesn't seem to be serious, there's no need to be careless." He moved over to the other side of the room, pressing buttons on the medical consol whilst Jonathan retrieved his uniform and put it back on over his blue skivvies.

"I would suggest that you take on only light duties for now," Phlox continued, "Try to get plenty of rest. And I wouldn't advise anyone going down to the planet until I've analysed these readings Sub-Commander T'pol took. Just in case it was something down there which caused what happened to you."

Jonathan nodded in agreement as he finished zipping up his uniform.

"Yeah, I have plenty of paperwork I could be getting on with," he said with a smile, "I just hope someone back home is reading these reports."

Phlox nodded, seemingly engrossed in the data T'pol had given him. Realising the good doctor probably wasn't listening to him, Jonathan shook his head in amazement of the ability to focus in a scientific mind and headed to the door. He still had a bit of a headache but he wasn't going to trouble Phlox with that. Maybe he could take Porthos for a walk - the relatively fresh air may clear his head.

"Oh, by the way Captain," Phlox said suddenly looking up, "I hear that congratulations are in order."

Jonathan turned back with a bemused frown, "Congratulations?"

"Yes," Phlox said brightly, moving across the room in front of him, carrying the PADD over to yet another consol, "About your son."

"What?" Jonathan asked with a small shake of his head, wondering if he'd heard Phlox right.

"I understand he's been promoted to the defence technology research project at Starfleet," he paused, chuckling slightly, "Commander Tucker called him 'a chip off the old block'."

Jonathan shook his head, smiling at the doctor's obvious mistake, "I don't have a son, Doctor. You must be thinking of someone else."

This finally caught Phlox's attention, and he turned a concerned gaze on the Captain. Picking up his medical scanner he hurriedly crossed to a worried looking Archer and took some readings.

"I didn't detect any brain injuries or lesions that may cause this kind of amnesia," he said, frowning at the read outs. He snapped the device shut and looked at Jonathan.

"Perhaps I was a little hasty in letting you leave," he indicated towards the bed, "Would you mind? I'd like to run a few more tests."

"There's nothing wrong with me," Jonathan insisted, panic just slightly tingeing his voice. He knew he didn't have a son.

"Captain," Phlox said gently, handing him a data PADD.

Jonathan took it in trepidation. It was displaying his personnel record. Highlighted was the line 'Children: Daniel James Archer...'. Jonathan shook his head, shoving it back into Phlox's hand, not wanting to read any more, just in case.

"This can't be right," he said shaking his head wanting to get out of here but knowing that'd be the last thing he should do, "I don't have a son. I know I don't."

Phlox put a reassuring hand on his arm, leading him over to the bed and making him sit, "I realise that this must be confusing for you, Captain, but rest assured - I will find out what's going on."

"Thank you," Archer mumbled, staring at the ceiling as he lay back down. Only one question was going through his head.

Was he losing his mind? 


End file.
